Distorted Links

Wah! Wah! Wah! The ear-piercing wail of the siren had her jolting out of a sleep she fell into moments ago. She had been tossing and turning on the bed for over two and a half hours before she eventually surrendered to a fitful sleep. And she barely fell asleep to only get woken up by the sounds of sirens. Probably some high school kids mistakenly set off the smoke alarm while trying to light up a joint in the school bathroom, she reasoned bemusedly. But wait, her foggy, sleep deprived brain reasoned, it’s early dawn. A quick glance at the bedside clock showed three twenty-two a.m. Too early to be in school. Then what could it happening in this part of town for cops to be disturbing folks sleep this early? She queried internally irritatingly. The sounds only got closer and louder instead of moving farther away. Now getting pissed, she stood up to close the windows in order to muffle the noise - she had opened it earlier to let in cool air. All tendrils of sleep vanished as she saw that the lights of the incoming police car was pointed directly down the stretch of road that led to the house. What could they be looking for? She thought now wide awake. Did we get caught? How did they get our location? Oh God! The windows! Jessie! She thought worriedly as her brain went into overdrive. She hurriedly locked the windows and dived downstairs locking all the windows she came across and double-checking the alarm system. Seeing they were safe for now, she proceeded to Jessie’s room to wake her up and get going before Tray woke up. How they were going to do that she doesn’t know yet. She didn’t even knock before barging into her sister’s room and was surprised to see her awake, hunched over on the rug and cradling the phone to her chest. “Jessie." she called out worriedly. “We have to go now. I don’t know what happened but the cops are on their way here. In fact, they are almost at the door. We have to go.” She tugged her. The sight of her sister’s tear-streaked face had her pausing for a beat. “Jessie, come on. We can talk about this as soon as we get somewhere safe first. We have to go. Okay baby?” she queried softly. “I called them. Sis, I did. We have to confess. I can’t hold it in anymore.” Jessie croaked out. Rubik didn’t believe her ears at first and continued trying to get her up. “Sis, I’m serious.” Jessie said while pulling on the hem of her pajama shorts, “I had to tell someone so I called the cops to come over for my confession. I’m sorry sis.” She spoke haltingly while sobbing greatly. Her sister looked at her horrifyingly before sinking down to join her on the rug. ‘’Oh No!” She screamed into her hands before burying her face in her palm. Her sister’s tears distracted her from her grief and she pulled her close to console her. “Shhh!” She said firmly and softly but loud enough to quieten down her sister’s cries. “We’ll figure something out. Just don’t say anything, allow me do all the talking.” She added. “I’m so sorry sis," her sister repeated but less loud and hysterical this time around. The suddenly quiet room’s silence was broken by the sound of Tray’s bedroom door slamming shut. They had been so carried away they didn’t realize when the patrol car stopped. Now it was too late to get away. Better face the music once and for all. She stood up with a resigned sigh. “Jessie," she called her sister while holding out a hand to help her up. “Let’s do this once and for all”. “Sis, are we going to jail?” Jessie asked with eyes full of fear and tears. “No, I won’t allow them to take you away. Never!” she said hotly. Though Jessie was most likely going to be put in Juvenile Home if she was arrested but still. Deep down Rubik was scared but she squared her shoulders and led her sister out. She could already hear one of the officers talking to Tray. Better to face them now than wait until they came upstairs to search. She put on a calm brave face and approached the living room where Tray was already letting them in. The first officer, a wide balding man in his late fifties was the first to talk to them. “Good morning ma, sorry to wake you up. But who placed the call? Or better still, which one of you ladies goes by the name Jessie?” “I am Jessie,” Jessie spoke up hesitantly with fear written all over her face before her sister could speak up. “No…” Rubik started speaking but a light pressure on her arm from Tray made her pause. “Jessie,” he began softly. “Was there a reason you called the police without telling us first?” The second officer, a young dashing man in his twenties who appeared hot-headed at first glance was quick to talk. “We received a call from this young woman here. She was barely coherent but we could piece together some words.” He explained further; “she kept saying something about her father being dead. Murdered or so she said.” A quick look passed between both sisters which wasn’t lost on Tray. “Jessie, you’ve been staying up late to watch those horror movies I warned you about?” she asked while trying to inject a scolding tone into her voice. She quelled Jessie who was trying to talk with a warning glare and turned to the older officer sweetly. “My apologies… uhm… Mr…” she fished for a name hesitantly. “Sheriff Joshua,” he helped her out obligingly. “My apologies Sheriff. My sister tends to have nightmares whenever she watches horror movies. She was supposed to be on a movie ban but it’s obvious she has been watching behind my back.” She injected mournfully. “I’m so sorry officers to bring you out here at this time of the night… erm morning. I promise to handle this from my end and you won’t be getting this types of calls anymore. Scouts’ honor!” she promised solemnly while trying to inject humor into the situation. The officers obviously taken with her only laughed along and promised her that they would be happy to help anytime. Officer Dawkins, the young police turned to face Jessie as they got to the door. “Young lady, you gave your sister a fright tonight. Try and tone down your imagination and horror movies.” He said with a wink and disappeared. Relief had Rubik sliding boneless to the floor in her position. Thank God, she thought. We have more time. More time to go to jail, she thought as she shot up as abruptly as she slid down earlier. “What was that all about Jessie? And Rubik? The secret looks?” The c***k of Tray’s voice had Rubik scrambling to stand up. “You better start talking,” He ground out.